Bullying laws in Georgia require every public school district to adopt a written anti-bullying policy, investigate reports promptly, notify parents, and impose consequences that escalate from counseling to mandatory transfer to an alternative school. The central statute is O.C.G.A. § 20-2-751.4, amended in 2024 with changes taking effect July 1, 2025. Separate criminal statutes can apply when bullying crosses into threats or physical violence.
What Counts as Bullying Under Georgia Law
The legal definition is broader than most people assume. Under O.C.G.A. § 20-2-751.4, bullying includes any willful attempt or threat to injure someone when the person has the apparent ability to carry it out, any intentional show of force meant to make the target fear immediate harm, and any intentional written, verbal, or physical conduct a reasonable person would see as threatening or intimidating.1Justia. Georgia Code 20-2-751.4 – Policies Prohibiting Bullying; Assignment to Alternative School; Notice
That third category catches most school incidents, but the conduct also has to meet at least one additional threshold. It must cause substantial or visible physical harm, substantially interfere with the target’s education, be severe or persistent enough to create an intimidating school environment, or substantially disrupt school operations.1Justia. Georgia Code 20-2-751.4 – Policies Prohibiting Bullying; Assignment to Alternative School; Notice A single rude comment in a hallway probably doesn’t qualify. A sustained campaign of name-calling that drives a student’s grades down almost certainly does.
Where the Law Reaches
Georgia’s statute covers conduct on school property, on school buses, at designated bus stops, at school-related events, and through school computer systems. It also reaches cyberbullying that happens off campus and without school equipment, but only when the electronic communication targets specific students or staff, is intended to threaten safety or substantially disrupt the school, and either creates a reasonable fear of harm or has a high likelihood of doing so.1Justia. Georgia Code 20-2-751.4 – Policies Prohibiting Bullying; Assignment to Alternative School; Notice A mean social media post may or may not qualify depending on whether it clears those bars.
Even when conduct does qualify, a school’s authority over off-campus speech has constitutional limits. In Mahanoy Area School District v. B.L. (2021), the U.S. Supreme Court held that schools retain some ability to regulate off-campus student speech but with significantly diminished authority compared to on-campus speech. The Court identified “serious or severe bullying or harassment targeting particular individuals” as one setting where a school’s regulatory interest may still apply off campus, while cautioning that courts should be “more skeptical” of off-campus speech regulations.2Supreme Court of the United States. Mahanoy Area School District v. B. L. A Georgia school can likely discipline targeted, severe online harassment of a classmate; disciplining a general vulgar complaint about school is much harder to justify.
How Schools Must Respond to a Report
The first reporting duty falls on school employees. Any teacher or staff member with reliable information suggesting a student is being bullied must immediately report it to the principal. The statute uses “shall,” so this is a mandate.3Justia. Georgia Code 20-2-751.4 – Policies Prohibiting Bullying and Cyberbullying Required
Students, parents, and community members can also report, and every district must offer a way to do so anonymously. Two protections back this up: retaliation against anyone who reports bullying is prohibited, and anyone who reports in good faith has immunity from civil liability.1Justia. Georgia Code 20-2-751.4 – Policies Prohibiting Bullying; Assignment to Alternative School; Notice A parent whose report turns out to be inaccurate cannot be sued for damages as long as the report was honest.
Once a report comes in, the school administration must promptly investigate and determine whether bullying occurred.3Justia. Georgia Code 20-2-751.4 – Policies Prohibiting Bullying and Cyberbullying Required The statute doesn’t spell out every procedural step, but the requirement for a timely determination means reports can’t sit unanswered. Specific procedures are set by each district’s local board policy, which must comply with the state model policy from the Georgia Department of Education.
Parental notification is mandatory. When an administrator finds that a student has bullied another, or that a student is the target or suspected victim of bullying, the district must notify parents or guardians and include referrals to counseling and other appropriate services for both students. Schools must also post the bullying prohibition and penalties at each school and in student and parent handbooks.3Justia. Georgia Code 20-2-751.4 – Policies Prohibiting Bullying and Cyberbullying Required
School Discipline and the Three-Offense Rule
Local boards have flexibility in setting consequences, but every policy must include an age-appropriate range that covers at least disciplinary action and counseling.3Justia. Georgia Code 20-2-751.4 – Policies Prohibiting Bullying and Cyberbullying Required Most districts use a tiered approach. A first offense may bring a warning, parent conference, or behavioral counseling. Repeat or severe incidents can lead to in-school suspension, out-of-school suspension, or a disciplinary tribunal referral.
The consequence with the sharpest teeth is mandatory alternative school assignment. If a disciplinary hearing officer, panel, or tribunal finds that a student in grades six through twelve has committed bullying for the third time in a single school year, the student must be reassigned to an alternative school.3Justia. Georgia Code 20-2-751.4 – Policies Prohibiting Bullying and Cyberbullying Required This is not discretionary. The transfer happens regardless of how earlier incidents were resolved.
Bullying on a school bus triggers an added requirement. The district must hold a meeting between the student’s parent or guardian and school officials to create a bus behavior contract setting out progressive, age-appropriate discipline. That can include assigned seating, mandatory parental involvement, and suspension from riding the bus.4Justia. Georgia Code 20-2-751.5 – Student Code of Conduct; Safety Rules on School Buses; Distribution
When Bullying Becomes a Crime
Threats and violence tied to bullying can produce criminal charges separate from any school discipline. The main statute for threats is O.C.G.A. § 16-11-37, covering terroristic threats and acts. A terroristic threat is normally a misdemeanor, but a threat suggesting the death of the targeted person becomes a felony punishable by up to $1,000 in fines, one to five years in prison, or both.5Justia. Georgia Code 16-11-37 – Terroristic Threats and Acts
An actual terroristic act, such as releasing a harmful substance, setting a fire, or detonating an explosive device, carries up to $5,000 in fines and one to ten years in prison. If the act causes serious physical injury, the sentence range becomes five to forty years with fines up to $250,000.5Justia. Georgia Code 16-11-37 – Terroristic Threats and Acts Physical contact in a bullying incident may also be prosecuted as simple battery under O.C.G.A. § 16-5-23 depending on the circumstances.
Rights of a Student Accused of Bullying
For short suspensions of ten school days or fewer, schools have broad discretion. When a student faces long-term suspension of more than ten days, expulsion, or the mandatory alternative-school transfer, Georgia law requires a disciplinary hearing before a hearing officer, panel, or tribunal under O.C.G.A. §§ 20-2-752 through 20-2-755. Because the three-offense transfer is a change of placement, the finding must come from a hearing body, not simply from an administrator.3Justia. Georgia Code 20-2-751.4 – Policies Prohibiting Bullying and Cyberbullying Required
Rights at that hearing include written notice to the student and parents identifying the alleged conduct, the time and place of the hearing, and the names of witnesses the school plans to call; a hearing within ten school days after the suspension begins; the chance to present evidence, call witnesses, and respond to the school’s evidence; the right to retain legal counsel; and a written or electronic verbatim record of the hearing available to all parties.
Students With Disabilities
Federal law adds a layer of protection when the accused student has a disability. Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, any decision to change the placement of a student with a disability for a code-of-conduct violation triggers a manifestation determination within ten school days of the decision.6eCFR. 34 CFR 300.530 – Authority of School Personnel
The school, the parents, and relevant IEP team members review the student’s records, IEP, teacher observations, and parent-provided information to answer two questions: Was the behavior caused by or directly and substantially related to the student’s disability? Was the behavior the direct result of the school’s failure to implement the IEP?6eCFR. 34 CFR 300.530 – Authority of School Personnel If either answer is yes, the school generally cannot proceed with the discipline as planned. Where the problem is implementation of the IEP, the school must fix it immediately. Schools that skip the manifestation determination can face legal challenges to the discipline.
When a School’s Failure to Act Creates Liability
When bullying targets a student based on race, sex, disability, or another protected characteristic, and the school does nothing meaningful, families may have a federal civil rights claim. Under Davis v. Monroe County Board of Education, a school district can be liable under Title IX when it is deliberately indifferent to student-on-student harassment so severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive that it effectively denies the victim access to educational opportunities.
Deliberate indifference means more than a poor response. It means the response was clearly unreasonable given what the school knew. A district that investigates, imposes consequences, and monitors the situation is unlikely to meet that standard even if the bullying continues. A district that receives repeated reports, does nothing, and lets the same student keep targeting the same victim is the textbook case. Filing a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights is an alternative to litigation and does not require an attorney.
Where bullying doesn’t involve a protected characteristic, the good-faith immunity in Georgia’s statute protects reporters, not schools that ignore reports. A district that systematically fails to follow its own anti-bullying policies could face state-law negligence claims, though proving damages and overcoming governmental immunity presents significant hurdles.